Erie police searching for suspect in Friday morning shooting

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Two men told Erie police that they had just left an eastside bar early Friday morning when they spotted a man standing outside a nearby store.

As the men turned to leave, the other man ran up and told them to give him everything they had, police said.

The man pulled out a gun and struck one of the victims, age 43, in the head with the gun. The gun fired, and the men who were confronted ran away, police said.

The other victim, age 42, was shot twice, once in the buttocks and once in the toe, according to investigators.

Police had no suspects Friday in the shooting, which was reported at about 2:20 a.m. outside of a tavern in the 600 block of East 24th Street.

Officers who responded to the call found some blood on the sidewalk and a shell casing in the street, but no suspects or victims. Police learned a short time later that the man who had been shot was at UPMC Hamot, Erie police Lt. Kirk Werner said.

Police did not release the names of the victims.

The robber was described as a black male in his mid-20s who is about 5 feet 5 inches tall and was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants.

The shooting victim was the fifth person to be shot in Erie in two weeks, and the seventh person injured by gunfire in the city so far this year.

One person had been shot in Erie at this point in 2012.

The attempted robbery was also among at least 10 violent-crime incidents reported in the city since the start of February. The other incidents included two stabbings, three business robberies and the armed robbery of a Gannon University fraternity house.

Anyone with information about Friday's shooting is asked to call Erie police at 870-1120.

TIM HAHN can be reached at 870-1731 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNhahn.

Online Extras

MORE ON CRIME: To see more coverage of crime in the Erie area, including Erie County’s Most Wanted and a map of incidents in Erie and Millcreek Township, click here.

MORE ONLINE: To read more stories and see videos about local gun violence, and to view a database of criminal reports in your neighborhood, click here.